, 1887-01-22
A SIOUX QUEENS WEDDING.
The Descendant of Savage Kings Mar
ries a White Man.

event, and delegates were present from
all the bands OF the Dakotas and Lakotas
fttingly to honor the marriage of their
hereditary queen, the last surviving
member of the royal family of the Sioux.
According to a writer in the st. Paul
Globe the ceremony took place on the
Sioux reservation in Dakota.
Like the Six Nations, the Dakotas in
their days Of strength and power, were
beneath the undivided sway OF n single
ruler. in whose hands lay the arbitramcnt
of war and peace, life and death. odd
Smoke" as he was known to the whites,
was the last of his line, and he passed
away with the dignity of a savage and a
king in 1859, lamenting only that of all his
wives but one had borne him a child, and
that was a female. But as he was breath
ing his last, with his eyes resting on the
blessed Standing Rock and his thoughts
turned to the tabled pleasures OF the
happy hunting grounds, they brought
him his new born daughter. The infant
smiled in the face ofher stern and battle
Scared sire and some soft sentiment
stirred his breast. "Weah-wash tay,"
he murmured, patting her cheek. and his
spirit passed into the Valhallah of the
brave who fear not death.
So Weah-wash-tay they called her, and
she grew up in truth THE Beautiful
One Exempted by birth to some ex-
tent from the drudgery which makes up
the life of the ordinary squaw, she devel-
oped all the 1.-THE and graceful character
istics of her race and became the pride of
her nation. In the freshness of her
young, free and untrammeIled woman
hood, brave after brave ~recounted his
deeds Of prowess and sought her hand and
heart, but one by one they fell away, re-
pulsed in disdain. After the days OF sud-
den foray and prolonged conflict had
ended, and when the Ogallalas were gath
cred at Pine Ridge, there came to the
camp a young man who had been APP
pointed clerk tc Agent Irwin. His name
was Jordan, and he was a brother OF Mai.
Jordan. a gallant officer of the United
States regular army.
Struck with the girls appearance, he
sought her out and eventually, strange as
it may seem. grew passionately in love
with her. Some maiden instinct, or the
training of the missionaries, had kept her
pure, and she would listen to no proposal
save that of a Christian marriage. The
council OF the tribe, who we're her guard
ians, had granted the young white mans
request, and the night before Christmas
was to see the twain made one.
Evening came on apace, and with it the
wedding guests by thousands, most of
them in all the glory of blankets, paint
and feathers.
One of the trading houses had been
transformed into a reception hall, and de-
spite the bitter cold of the evening all the
doors and Windows were open that the
curious throng might see and hear. At
$50 the musicians arrived, three fiddlers,
one a half-breed, one a negro and one a
white man. Then came the Episcopal
minister, Mr.. Robinson, clothed in the
garments of his creed, followed by the
bride and groom. At their entrance the
violinists began.
"Eh. what's that, what's that" cried
Gen. Hammond, who was among the
army officers present.
II don't know, but it's good music" |
answered.
We'll, I'll be-" he cried, IF those
fellows aren't playing the grand march
from Norma, and playing it well, too"
On this, the most important occasion of
her life, The Beautiful One bad for the
first time donned the garments of a civil
lied woman. Her hair, long, raven and
difhcile, had been imprisoned in the mys-
teries of a French twist, while her we'd
ding gown was a neatly fitting robe of
crimson silk. Her hands were encased in
giants de Suede, while her feet we're evil
IDENTIFY suffering tortures in a pair of high
heeled shoes. On her breast was a knot
of artificial flowers. The groom had
resurrected a nearly forgotten dress suit,
and We'd in nuptial bravery with his dusky
sweetheart.
The music ceased and the minister took
his place. Who giveth this woman to
be Joined unto this mani" he queried,
and some one Int Red Cloud a dig in the
RIBS to remind him that it was his turn.
Me do he gutturalized, stalking for
ward. The ceremony was soon over, and
after a prayer, to which all listened rever-
emily, the fun began.
The floor was cleared, the fiddlers re-
sumed their places and the white and half
breeds were soon whirling about in all the
gay abandon of waltz and polka, hoe
down and Virginia reel. The pine boughs
Of the walls nodded approval to the up
roar, and outside and down in the teepee-
line valley tom toms beat in tumultuous
%dissonance. The night moved on apace,
and at ~ O'Clock Gen. Hammond cried,
Merry Christmas; lights out; the show
is over.
An hour later silence reigned through
cut the great camp on the borders of the
ice locked White river.
supreme Court.